Paper Cuts
by Dante- Author Of The Comedy
Summary: High School is hard. Its even harder when your parents aren't there to help you through it. But what if you had a Rose? (Because they asked (More like demanded but i love them even if they are mean and yell at me) Credit due to Meteorite Creature(Remnants of Past Memories) for helping me do writer things. If any of you like the graveyard scene then they helped me write that a lot.)
1. Chapter 1

**Hey, so this is Dante here. And yesterday I was reading fanfiction(as one is apt to do on this website) when I found Paper Cuts. And I was surprised that it was so popular for such a short story. Well its not that popular. More popular than mine that's for sure. So I did some research and found out that it used to be a lot longer than what he has posted. So I asked Just a dude what happened and he said that he just couldn't write it anymore.**

 **So I asked if I could have the story.**

 **He said yes. For those of you who will be mad he said it would be on his profile or something. And then he sent me the link to this google doc with all the chapters in it. So I'm just gonna post them as is for now, and mess with them later. And I also need Kegi Springfield to give me the okay to use his picture for this story. (He gave the okay btw.)**

 **(Also I edited this recently. 4/23/17)**

* * *

My parents had a special type of job. Normally I called them doctors to not confuse people, but they were more like medical archaeologists. They would go and explore ancient ruins looking for any medicine and other things that could be used to further our own knowledge of the subject. But that being said, they had to leave me alone at the house for days, maybe even weeks so they could do their job.

Just recently however they had gotten permission from the four nations to study Menagerie, an area that until recently was declared off limits due to cultural issues. Because of the large amount of ancient cites and native plant life they had to spend almost four years there. Well three years and six months but what's the difference.

Right now in the early hours of the morning we were packing the rest of the things into the taxi that would take them to the airport. As I finished putting the rest of my dad's things in the trunk of the car when my dad came up to me. We stood there for a second when he ruffled my hair with his hand, one of his signs of affection towards me. My father was a true Arc, a man with a full head of blonde hair who stood at a towering 6' 7" and blue eyes that were as deep as the sea. I looked a lot like him, but there were differences. I wasn't over half a foot shorter than him, and my face was nowhere near as masculine. My eyes weren't the ocean blue that his were, instead a much lighter sky blue. "Jaune, the bank should have everything settled so if anything goes wrong then call them."

As he said this I saw his eyes were shining with unshed tears. "Do you really have to go?" I asked.

"This... This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. We've been begging the nations to let us go to Menagerie for years, and we have to use all the time we have because we don't know if they'll let us back in again."

My mom walked up to us at this point and wrapped me in a hug. She was a lot more emotional than my dad, some tears already flowing down her face. "Just make sure that you stay safe." She pulled away from me held me by my shoulders. "We'll write as often as we can okay. Make sure that you write back. And here's this," She reached into her purse and pulled out a small plastic card, "This is yours. We won't need any of it while we're there so almost all of the money that we should be making will be yours to spend. Don't do anything crazy alright?"

"I promise."

As I said this I the taxi driver honked his horn in impatience. Both my parents parents hugged me goodbye and told me they loved me as they go into the car. I stood there for a few minutes watching the taxi until it went turned a corner and made I lost sight of it.

I walked back into my house to get ready for the school bus, and then walked back to the sidewalk at the end of my street to wait for the bus. I was waiting for my friend Pyrrha, who lived right beside me, but she still didn't show up by the time the bus came. That wasn't that strange as she was an athlete for most of the girls' sports in the school, so she probably went early so she could sign up for them this year. I got on the bus and found an empty seat that was in the front of the bus.

When we got to the school, some of the students from my old school greeted me, and asked about Pyrrha. I was used to this though, as I had been her friend since before we started school. I was never really known for being anything more than Pyrrha's friend because she was always one of the most beautiful girls in our class. Well other guys would say hot, but I think the word is insulting to girls. It only says things about them physically. I say beautiful when talking about Pyrrha because she is a great person, and because I have had a crush on her since the 7th grade.

I avoided the crowded lunch room where most of the students gathered. I had never been one for socializing as I turned out to be a bit overbearing when I first met new people. I just pulled my hoodie around me a bit tighter and went to Mr. Port's English room, as it was my homeroom.

Inside of the room I found a fairly large man that was my height telling the few other students in the room about a time when he snuck backstage at a Kiss concert when he was younger, and then proceeded to travel with them for 3 years.

I just ignored the man and fell asleep waiting for class to start. I didn't wake up until a boy with almost shoulder-length black hair with a pink stripe in it woke me up after the bell to leave first period rung. "Thanks, he was just so boring," I said, to which he just nodded in understanding. "My name is Jaune Arc, what's yours?" I asked as we walked out of the room.

"My name is Lie Ren, but I would prefer it if you called me Ren," was all he said as he took a turn to a different part of the wing where I knew I wasn't going. I just walked the rest of the way to my science class by myself. Inside I saw Pyrrha sitting with a white haired girl that looked very pretty. My red-headed friend waved me over with a small smile on her face as she was talking to the girl with the snowy-white hair.

"Hey Jaune, this is Weiss. She moved here from Atlas," she said as I sat down beside them, on Pyrrha's left. I waved at Weiss who gave a polite smile back.

"So you're the boy that Pyrrha told me about. She speaks quite highly of you. Do you play any sports as well." She asked.

"Do video games count?" I asked jokingly, making her frown slightly. As I said this as the teacher, a short woman that looked like she could pass as 17, walked in the room. She had long dirty blonde hair that reached below her shoulder blades.

"Hello class, I'm Ms. Mason and I'll be your science teacher for the next 4 years. How things work here is that all your current teachers will follow you as you move up through the grades. It's supposed to help make you feel more comfortable with us, as we will be a more permanent piece of your school life." After this, she handed out a syllabus explaining what we were going to do for the class, along with a safety contract that said the school would not be responsible for any injuries that may occur during any labs and activities. That ended up taking most of the class, so with 5 minutes left she let us just talk among ourselves since we didn't have time to really learn anything.

I turned to Pyrrha as she was sorting her newly acquired papers. "Hey, are you still coming to hang out tonight? We could go to the movies or something if we get bored enough," I asked hoping that she would. I was planning on asking her to be my girlfriend that night. I had thought about it for a while, and I realized that while I cared about our friendship, I was not afraid to risk it if it meant that I could be with Pyrrha.

She looked at me with an excited look in her eye, "Can we postpone that? Weiss and another girl invited me to hang out with them and their friend." She said, giving me a hopeful, puppy-eyed look.

"Sure, why not? We always hang out anyway," I said as I put a smile on my face, but on the inside I had to swallow down my sadness. Pyrrha would normally always spend the night with me on the first night my parents left for a trip.

I decided to walk home at the end of the day, due to my house not being that far away from the school and the bus normally being too loud in the evenings. I was walking along the sidewalk at an even pace, about to reach a park that was almost halfway between the school and my own house. As I walked past the entrance, I saw a dark-haired girl wearing a red T-shirt and black track pants running along the path. She looked to be about 12 or 13. Our eyes met, and she smiled and waved at me as she went by. I smiled and waved back at her before continuing on.

I made it home a little before dark, and made myself some dinner. I was a bit lonely, but I was used to it… After all, I had spent plenty of nights like this before.

* * *

 _Skip 3 Months_

I was in my 7th period History class, taught by Mr. Oobleck, doing nothing but writing in the notebook my mom gave me. I had started to carry it around with me everywhere for the past few months, because I had almost no one else to "talk" to. Pyrrha was almost never around as much as she used to be, and all of the other people the normally talked to me all seemed to stop one day when they realized that I wasn't Pyrrha's best friend anymore. That spot was filled by Weiss, the snowy-haired girl sitting beside Pyrrha on the first day, Blake, a girl with long raven-black hair who always wore a large black ribbon in her hair regardless of her outfit and was always reading a book, and Yang, the blonde captain of the boxing team.

Right now, Yang was sitting beside me and trying to start a conversation, but I was trying to study so I found it rather distracting. "So Jaune, are you going to be at the track meet today? Pyrrha seems really excited about it." She asked offhandedly, making my mind grind to a halt. I had completely forgotten about Pyrrha's track meet, mostly because she hadn't been bringing it up every 30 minutes to me like she used to do. I didn't think I could go, I was currently cramming for tomorrow's History test which I had also forgotten about for the same reason. Pyrrha kept me focused on lots of things in school, and now that she wasn't talking to me nearly as much it really showed.

"I..." I paused, thinking of how close I was to Yang before I told her this,"I don't think that I'll go to this one." Yang looked shocked at my answer, but before she could say anything I continued, "It's just that me and Pyrrha aren't as close as we used to be, and I'm tired of being the only one that's trying." I told the blonde and feeling rather embarrassed. Yang gave me an incredulous look as if I were a pig learning to fly.

Before Yang could drag an answer out of me, I was thankfully saved by the bell. I hurriedly made my way out of class, briefly stopping by my locker to pick up my black hoodie for my usual walk home. I also left my book bag in my locker, making sure to grab what few materials I needed and putting them in a smaller bag that was easier to carry around.

I was now walking down the road on the way home, watching the cars drive by and make a slight breeze that was quite refreshing. I walked past the park like I did every day, and just like every other day the dark-haired girl was there, today she was wearing a red jacket over a black corset. Like always, she seemed to know I was there, turning to look at me and waving her hand wildly above her head. I just smiled at her and returned a small wave before she went out of sight.

I reached home at 4 o'clock and went inside to make myself a sandwich before I started cramming for the History test tomorrow. Right as I picked up the bread, I heard a knock on my door so I went to see who it was, I heard the door being knocked again as I walked through my house and reached the entrance. When I opened the door, I found Pyrrha dressed in her track uniform standing outside with her mom parked in front of my house.

"Hey Jaune, I was wondering if you wanted to go to the meet early with me? Or are you just gonna walk there later?" She asked with a smile on her face.

I sighed and told her the truth. "I don't think I can make it this time Pyrr. I have to study for Oobleck's test tomorrow," I said, wincing inwardly as the smile fell off her face.

"But you always-,"

"Yeah, I know. I always go," I cut her off in mid-sentence.

Pyrrha was giving me a pleading look with a few tears forming in her eyes, and I felt my defenses crumble. "It starts at like 5:30 right?" She nodded at me as her mom honked the horn, "Well I think that I should be able to finish studying and get there in time to watch. You wanna come hang out here when it's over?"

Her tears instantly disappeared and she beamed at me, "I can't wait to see you there, and sure," Pyrrha said, giving me a hug before she ran back to her mom's car.

 _About forty-five minutes later, I decided that I wasn't going to fail my test so I shrugged on my jacket and left the house. On the way, I passed by the park again, noticing that nobody was there. I didn't feel like being later than I already was so I didn't spend any time looking for the dark-haired girl._

 _I finally reached the school at 5:40 and headed straight for the field. I didn't really know anyone there besides Blake, Weiss, Yang and Pyrrha's mom, since Pyrrha was the only person from our old school who made the team, and I still wasn't really all that comfortable around the girls either. Weiss had starting to act like I didn't even deserve to be in the same room as her, Yang was naturally loud and confidant in such a way that made me uncomfortable, and while Blake was pretty nice, all I ever saw her do was read._

 _Not seeing anybody else I recognized, and not wanting to sit with the girls and put up with Weiss' cold comments, I decided to sit by myself at one corner and watched as Pyrrha broke almost every record that was in place in the school, only missing the 100 meter record by 0.2 seconds. The only event that Pyrrha didn't participate in was the shot putt, as she never really considered that a track sport in her mind. Whenever it wasn't her turn to participate, she would turn around and scan through the stands, but her attention was always drawn to her family and friends with Yang cheering her on loudly. I would wave and try to get her attention each time, but it was in vain, she never noticed me._

 _After the meet ended, I tried to search for Pyrrha to let her know that I was there, but when I finally found her she was already inside her mom's car with the other girls and driving away from the school. I had left my scroll at home, so I had no way of letting her know I was there. In the end, I just decided to walk back to my house and hope that she was at hers._

 _I was walking back along my normal route, but it was a pretty warm night so I took off my jacket and threw it over my shoulder while holding on to it with one hand. As I passed the park, a strong gust of wind snatched my hoodie away from me and sent it into the park. I was annoyed, but didn't want to waste time going after it since it was old and I would need a new one soon anyway._

 _When I finally made it back to my house, I went straight to my room to get my scroll, only to see several missed calls from Pyrrha. I called her back and on the fourth ring she answered. "What do you want Jaune?" she asked, sounding rather upset._

 _"Well, I was calling to let you know that you did really well at the meet today-," I started saying while trying to sound casual, but she cut me off._

 _"Jaune, just because we haven't been hanging out as much doesn't mean that you have to lie about being at my games." she said disbelievingly. "No one else saw you there and neither did I."_

 _"No, wait, I was there-," I stopped, realizing that Pyrrha had already hung up on me, and sagged on my bed. Pyrrha had never hung up on me before._

 _Eventually, I just went to sleep, hoping that it would all blow over by tomorrow._


	2. Chapter 2

I sat at the soccer game that Saturday night thinking of how my relationship with Pyrrha had become so strained in the past few months. It was over 5 months since the incident with her track meet and she still avoided me like the plague. She even went as far as to change her Scroll number so I couldn't call her. My school work was no issue, as I had already proved to be excellent at Math and Science, and was moved into the higher levels almost a week after the first semester tests were given out. Since there were no advanced classes in Mistral Middle, the school had to change a few people's classes around so that they could make up for the lack of diversity in my old school.

My new schedule was:

Port: English

Roman: Gym

Mason: Pre-AP Biology

Cinder: Pre-AP Geometry

Oobleck: Remnant History

Emerald: Chorus

Free Period

One of the things that I hated about this schedule was the fact that it got rid of the only class that I had with Pyrrha, so I had no way to talk to her anymore. After people realized that I no longer had any connection to Pyrrha, most of them stopped talking to me. If that wasn't enough, every other person stopped when they realized that the four most beautiful girls in our school disliked me. With Blake, all she really did was glare at me when she saw me, but she did no more than that. Weiss was another step up, but no harm was done beside the few laughs that I received whenever she insulted me in the halls, which was just about every time she saw me. Yang was by far the worst, as she had tripped me in the halls, knocked my books out of my hand to the point where I was scared to even have them out in the halls, and threatened to injure me multiple times if she ever saw me try and talk to Pyrrha again.

But at this moment though, my only intention with Pyrrha was to watch her play her first soccer game of the season, her being a goalie. Yang and Weiss were also on the team, Weiss being a defender and Yang being a forward. Blake was watching too, but she was sitting near the back, acting as if she wasn't paying attention. Acting being the key word, because even in the short time that I had known her, I had learned that the book she carried around was one that she had read almost 100 times. She told me in one of the few conversations that we held that she, in reality, was paying close attention to what she meant to.

Back to the game, Beacon was beating the enemy team 2-1. The enemy team was pretty good, and was called Nice Dynamite. The team was coached by two guys, one with short-ish brown hair that yelled whenever his team messed up, and a guy with long dirty blond hair that messed up a lot whenever it seemed important.

Nice Dynamite had the ball fairly close to the goal, and Weiss and the other defenders were having a hard time getting the ball away from the goal when they only had 15 more seconds before they won. Pyrrha was shuffling from side to side, keeping herself between the ball and the goal as much as possible. With only 5 seconds left on the clock, Nice Dynamite kicked the ball to another part of the field where one of their players was wide open with a shot. She took the shot and Pyrrha dove to catch the ball right as the ref called game. This was when I knew that I would have to leave, as Weiss was sure to notice my fairly distinct blond hair now that she wasn't focused on the game.

I stood up to leave, almost making it out to the parking lot when I got stopped by a beauty in a black bow, "What do you want Blake?" I asked trying to sound casual with the least hostile of my aggressors.

She was not up for it though, "What are you doing here Jaune? You know that Yang would kill you if she saw you here," she said in a voice that sounded like she couldn't really care less about what happened to me.

"I was watching Pyrrha play her game, like I alw- " I tried to say.

Her voice became cold, "No, you don't. You don't always show up. At least you didn't the first time, and that was enough," I tried to get a word in edge-wise, but she continued on. "I could never get why she liked you. She is so much better than you. Everybody admires her and thinks that she is amazing, but all she talked about was how she was going to ask you, you of all people, out after that game, but you never showed up. She was heartbroken after she found out that you weren't there. But then again I guess Weiss was always right when she said that you were no good."

I was standing speechless at her words, but before I could say anything, I heard the loud voice of Yang approaching as she talking to Pyrrha and Weiss about what they were going to do this weekend. I knew I had to leave now, so I hurriedly brushed past Blake and started walking home, wishing with all my heart that the girls weren't going to Pyrrha's house and preventing me from going there and talking to her.

Passing by the park like usual while thinking about what Blake said, I just couldn't wrap my mind around the fact that Pyrrha was going to ask me out, was being the key word. I was walking down the sidewalk, wondering just when our relationship got so fucked up when I noticed a familiar-looking girl wearing a red hoodie and black corset crossing over to my side of the street just ahead of me. Spotting me, she immediately turned to face me and waved her arm energetically above her head like usual, a bright cheerful smile on her face. I had just returned the wave when I saw to my horror a car speeding down the road towards her, the driver either drunk, half-asleep or plain crazy if he was going down a suburban street at 90 miles an hour.

The girl turned at the sound of the car and froze when she saw it coming straight at her. I ran as fast as I could to save her, the driver had apparently noticed and was trying to brake, but the car was still going fast enough to kill her. With bare moments to spare, I tackled her out of the way just as the car screeched through where our previous position was not half a second ago.

The bastard driving the car just revved up and sped away while yelling an apology out the window, not even bothering to come out and check on the girl he had almost killed with his reckless driving. The girl lay below me, panting shallowly as tears leaked from her glazed-looking eyes, and her fingers clutched my arm in a death grip.

I slowly stood up as she continued to grasp my arm as tight as possible, refusing to let go even after we were both standing. As soon as her feet hit the ground, what just happened seemed to hit her all at once as she wrapped her entire frame around mine and cried uncontrollably. With my total lack of practical knowledge of girls, I just did what felt natural and returned the hug, rubbing my hand along her back awkwardly. We must have stood there for at least 5 minutes as she soaked the front of my new jacket. Soon after that though, she quieted down, so I decided to break the silence, "Hey… are you alright?" I asked in as soothing a voice as I could possibly manage.

I waited a few seconds for a reply, only to find that she had cried herself to sleep in my arms. Since I didn't know where she lived, and with her still clinging tightly to my arm even while unconscious, I decided to try and carry her over to my house. Lifting her off the ground into a bridal carry, I figured that she was fairly light, probably a little over 120 pounds. Luckily, my house was only a few short minutes away from where we were standing, so I hurriedly made my way back while trying not to jolt my sleeping passenger. As I walked, I had the feeling that I was forgetting something really important that I was planning to do... but the moment passed as the girl in my arms started sobbing and mumbling in her sleep. Against my better judgment, I listened to her barely coherent words, "You shouldn't have…just like Mom...Sis is…," was all I could make out before she fell silent again.

Unconsciously cradling her closer, I figured out from her mumbling that she has a sister, and something had happened to her mom, but other than that I still knew nothing about this mysterious black-and-red haired girl in my arms. I paused in front of my house, noticing that all the lights were off at Pyrrha's house which either meant that she was not at home, or that she was already asleep. But right now, that was the last thing on my mind as I opened my front door and entered my house, making sure not to bump her on my way in, and carefully setting her down on my couch. She still clung to me tightly and refused to let go, so I was forced to perform some mild contortions to slide my jacket off and leave it in her grip, then I went to make dinner for the two of us.

It was the first time in six months that I had to cook for more than just myself. As I cooked, most of my thoughts and worries left my mind as I listened to the eggs sizzling and frying in the pan. Cooking was one of the few things I actually enjoyed doing, I had cooked often for my mom and dad when they were home instead of overseas, and it made me happy to see them eat the food I had prepared with a happy smile on their faces.

Filled with nolstalgia, I had just finished preparing the food and was about to serve them when I heard a yelp of surprise come from the living room. Quickly turning everything off, I went into the living room to find the small girl sitting upright on my couch with my jacket in her hands and looking scared and confused at her unknown surroundings. "Uhh... hey. How are you doin'?" I asked as nonchalantly as possible while doing my best to be the picture of calmness.

Several emotions flashed across her face at my words and presence, the first of which was recognition, followed mostly by relief and something else, "You... You're that guy who passes the park every day," she said, to which I nodded. "So that really happened, with the…" again all I did was nod. I was about to say something when I felt a sharp pain on my cheek and saw the girl suddenly standing right in front of me. "WHY WOULD YOU RISK YOUR LIFE FOR ME!" she demanded, once again in tears and she was about to fall to her knees when I caught her.

"I did it because you're my friend." I said with utmost sincerity. To my surprise, I found that I really did consider her to be my friend, even though this was our first time actually talking to one another.

The girl just gave me a confused look through her tears. "How am I your friend when you don't even know who I am?" she asked miserably.

"Because strangers are just friends you haven't met yet," was all I said, before embracing her in a tight warm hug. A few moments passed before she calmed down and tentatively returned the hug, then I remembered that I had made dinner. "Hey, I made some dinner while you were asleep," I said as I let go of her, taking her by the hand and leading her to the kitchen.

When we got there, I motioned for her to take a seat before I served the still-warm food onto two plates for each of us. Placing her share in front of her, I sat down and was about to eat when I saw that she hadn't moved since I let go of her hand, "Are you not hungry?" I asked in concern.

The black-and-red headed girl shook her head and was about to say something when I heard her stomach growl very loudly, and very insistently. Blushing furiously, she avoided looking at me as she picked up the utensils I had provided and started eating. We both ate in silence for a few minutes before she softly spoke up, "What's your name?" she asked.

It took me a moment to realize that I never did tell her my name, "My name is Jaune, and what would yours be?" I asked, flashing her an encouraging smile.

"My name is Ruby," was all she said before she blushed and ate another piece of bacon. The rest of dinner passed just as quietly as it started, and when we finished, she suddenly looked at me with embarrassed eyes, "Can I stay here tonight? I don't wanna walk home after what just happened..."

I just smiled at her again and gave her my honest opinion, "Ruby, you're my friend remember? I would never reject you from my home. Just think of it as a sleepover." For the first time that night, Ruby graced me with her beautiful smile. After that, it seemed like she really went with the sleepover idea, pushing me onto the couch and asking me to pick a movie as she went to make some popcorn for us.


	3. Chapter 3

I woke up the next morning on my couch when a weight plopped down on my chest and a cheerful voice said in my ear, "Wake up sleepy head! You have to make us breakfast since you made us that delicious dinner last night!" I was still way too sleepy to respond though and all I did was mumble out something unintelligible. As the weight started to bounce insistently on my chest, I blearily opened my eyes to see Ruby sitting there and looking down at me with sparkly eyes, "And then, you can make me some cookies since I didn't have any last night!"

Looking at her, I just blushed as I waited for her to realize she was straddling my chest. It took Ruby almost a full minute before she finally realized why my face was so red, then she immediately scrambled off with an embarrassed expression on her face.

Sitting up in that awkward silence, I exchanged a look with a flame-faced Ruby, finally giving her a small smile. Getting up, I stumbled into the kitchen to wash my face at the sink, then feeling marginally more awake, I started to prepare breakfast for the two of us. It wasn't anything special, just some frozen stir-fry that I had been meaning to scrounge up later in the week, but it was good enough for what I had in mind. Once I was done, I called Ruby into the kitchen so she could eat while I got started on the cookies.

Ruby came into the kitchen and looked at the stir-fry in confusion as I started putting the dough on the pan for the cookies. I looked over at her with deadpan eyes, "You told me to make dinner and cookies for you, remember?" Ruby just giggled at my tone, patting me on the head as she sat down to eat. "Good boy, and now only if every guy was as well trained as you..."

I just grumbled in mock-annoyance and put the cookies in the pre-heating oven to bake, before sitting down with Ruby to eat the stir fry. She was nearly finished with her portion and was looking around the room as if to find something. I waited a few seconds before saying anything because I thought she looked really adorable when she was curious, but she was starting to get jumpy so I spoke up, "Are you okay Ruby? You looking for something?" I asked as she flinched at my words, almost as if she wasn't expecting me to notice the fact that she was trying to find something.

"Well... I was wondering when your parents would be home? I didn't want to get you in trouble because I stayed the night," she said nervously while looking down and poking at her food.

I was surprised by the question, because to be completely honest I hadn't thought about my parents for almost 3 months, last night being the first time in a long while. I was feeling rather guilty about this when Ruby spoke up again, "Are you okay? Was bringing up your parents a bad idea or someth-."

"No, no, they're fine. It's just that at the beginning of the school year they had to go overseas for work for almost 4 years. They should be getting back around a month before my senior graduation, but I just realized I haven't even thought of them recently and I feel as if that makes me a bad kid or something," I said, not expecting myself to tell her so much just so that she wouldn't worry.

Ruby was quiet for a few seconds before she said something that surprised me, "I don't think you're a bad kid," she almost whispered as she got out of her seat, putting her finished plate in the sink, "And I don't want to hear you say that about yourself ever again. Not many people would risk their lives for someone else, especially someone they haven't even met yet." She walked over to me and gave me a big hug, "To me it doesn't matter what you or anyone else thinks you are. You will always be my hero."

I didn't know how to reply to that, so I just sat there and let the warmth coming off her small frame wash over my body. I didn't have to worry for long, as the cookies finished with a small ding and Ruby reappeared in front of the oven wearing a pair of oven mitts so she that could grab the hot pan. I didn't even have time to tell her not to eat them because they were still hot when she popped one into her mouth. Without saying a word, I walked over to the fridge and pulled out the bottle of milk as her face reddened comically, "Jaune, these cookies are hot!" She was huffing loudly and trying to exhale the heat without spitting out the cookie when I handed her the gallon of milk. Tearing the top off, she immediately started chugging straight from the bottle without a care, but I didn't really mind; Ruby didn't seem to be sick, so I didn't think I had anything to worry about... and hey, it was a cute girl drinking from my bottle of milk.

Leaving her to her cookies and milk, I headed upstairs with a shout of, "I need to do some homework." All I got was a humming noise in response before I entered my room which was located upstairs. When I got there I opened my book bag and took out the notebook that my mom gave me, which I had rather uninspiringly called my 'Note Book'. I had already written a few things in it, some of which was just reminders of homework assignments while others were of how the girls were messing with me, but since it was mostly the same thing every time, I only wrote that down once or twice.

Sitting comfortably at my desk, I pulled out a pencil and started to write, 'Well, I have a lot to put down in here for once. I was walking home from one of Pyrrha's soccer games when I saw that girl who was in the park every day, she waved at me like normal. The thing is, when she was waving at me, I saw a car was about to hit her so I saved her. I know that description not very dramatic but it happened so fast that I don't remember most of it. Anyway that's besides the point. After I pushed her out of the way, I carried her back home and let her stay the night. Her name is Ruby, and I managed to tell my name, but she had to remind me...' Just then I heard a knocking on the door next to mine, so I got up and put away my stuff before I walked over to my door and opened it.

Ruby was standing in front of my parent's room, her hand raised to knock on their door again. I coughed to get her attention, and she blinked in surprise before turning to me with a sheepish grin, "I was just coming to tell you, thanks for letting me stay here and for saving my life, but I really have to go because otherwise my sister would freak if she got home from her sleepover and found that I wasn't home."

I actually felt sad that she was leaving so soon after she got here, but I guessed her concerns were well-founded. Before I could bid her goodbye, Ruby grabbed my arm and took out a sharpie from somewhere, then wrote something down on my arm. When she was done I took a closer look and saw that it was a scroll number. "Now you give me yours," she told me as she rolled up her own sleeve and held out the sharpie.

With a laugh I wrote down my scroll number on Ruby's extended arm. She blushed a bit as I grabbed her arm to steady it so that my writing would be legible, and when I was done she quickly jerked her arm from my grasp. I thought her embarrassed face was really cute. "Well, I guess I'll just see you around then huh Ruby?" I said to her as I walked her to the door.

She gave me a look of confusion before answering, "You do know that I'm coming back tomorrow right? I don't want you to be all alone for the next three years, so I'm gonna keep you company every day. What kind of friend would I be if I didn't?" She asked rhetorically as she ran out of the door.

I just stared at Ruby's retreating form in amazement and not a little gratitude, until I realized something, "HEY RUBY, THE PARK IS THE OTHER WAY!" I yelled out as loud as I could.

The black-and-red-headed girl immediately stopped and turned around, running past my house with an embarrassed blush and yelling her thanks as she headed back in the correct direction.

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That night, I was sitting at my desk working on some homework that was due for Cinder tomorrow, mostly because I didn't have time to do it this weekend with everything that happened. Speaking of what happened, my scroll rang and I reached out to where it was charging on my bed to see who I was. Now the number looked familiar, but I couldn't place it so when I was about to reject the call when I saw the semi-faded number Ruby left on my arm and I realized that they were identical.

"Hey Ruby, miss me already?" I answered in a teasing voice, machining the calling girl sputter a response.

"N-no, I just wanted to make sure that you were doing okay. I mean, even though I've never had any friends before, I was never really alone. I always had my dad and my sister, along with my Uncle Qrow. I could never imagine being alone by myself like that."

I gave the wall in my room a soft smile at her words, "Well I wasn't always alone, but my friends made more friends and I was left behind."

She paused for a moment before responding in an exuberant voice, "Don't worry. From now on I'll be your bestest friend ever, and I will never leave you. I promise," she said with conviction that made me smile even more.

"Ruby, I'll be fine. Now shouldn't you be getting ready for bed? After all, even you need to get some sleep. It helps you grow."

"I don't have a bed time," she huffed at me, "I'm 14 thank you very much. And I am going to grow just fine, I drink a lot of milk," she finished with a hint of pride in her voice. I looked over to my clock and I saw it was almost 10, but I didn't want to upset Ruby by telling her that I needed to sleep. With my very weak will already crumbling, I decided too just stay up with her as late as possible. But this was to end shortly as I heard snoring coming from the phone after a few moments of silence.

"Goodnight Ruby, and thanks for being my friend," I whispered as I hung up.

As I did, I heard the almost nonexistent voice of Ruby Rose come through the phone and say one more thing, "Goodnight Jaune."


	4. Chapter 4

It was after school on Monday, and I was walking home with a fried brain after rushing several projects in study hall just so that I could enjoy my night without having to work, but could still turn them in on time tomorrow. I had my hands in the pockets of my hoodie, my head down and the hood up due to the strong cold winds that were blowing across the entirety of the town. I was currently debating on whether or not to go to Pyrrha's next soccer game tomorrow, considering the bad luck I seemed to be having with them, when I was suddenly shocked out of my reverie by two slim arms wrapping around me from behind. Awkwardly twisting around, I was surprised to find a relieved-looking Ruby. She was wearing something entirely inappropriate for the weather, a short sleeved black shirt and a pair of jeans, and I could feel the chill of her limbs even though the warmth of my hoodie.

"What are you doing here Ruby?" I asked as I carefully pried her off of me and gave her a quick once-over, feeling relieved when she looked to be perfectly fine.

Ruby looked at me with puppy eyes and a fake pout when I pushed her off of me, then she rubbed her head sheepishly, "Well, I was gonna surprise you by sneaking into your home and greeting you when you showed up, but... Isortaforgotwhereitwas," she rushed the last part, lowering her head and blushing in embarrassment. Then she perked back up as she continued, "But I remembered that I always saw you passing by the park, so... here I am!" Concluding in a chipper voice, she threw her arms apart to indicate the area we were standing in.

Looking around me in slight confusion, I realized that I was in fact standing right next to the entrance of the park, then my eyes widened when I remembered that Ruby had said she was going to hang out with me today. To think that she had waited out here in the cold for me while dressed like that... Feeling somewhat guilty, I pulled off my hoodie, revealing the long sleeved pale blue shirt that I wore underneath, and tossed it to her before I started walking in the direction of my house. After a few steps I realized that Ruby wasn't following me, so I looked back and saw her still standing at the same spot I had left her at, looking at me in confusion while clutching my hoodie to her chest.

"Hey, are you just gonna stand there all day, or are you coming along? You were the one who planned to visit my house and forgot the way there, right?"

Looking startled by my remark, a wide smile broke out on Ruby's face moments later and she hurried to catch up with me. Quickly falling into step beside me as I started walking, she started to badger me with excitement shining in her eyes. "So Jaune, I was thinking about what we were going to do this week when I realized that we could just watch a whole lot of movies, just like we did last time!" She said eagerly as we walked towards my house. Ruby probably didn't realize, but the way she kept looking all around us as we walked with her brow furrowed cutely in concentration made it obvious she was trying to remember the way back to my house, and I had to bite back a snicker at the thought of Ruby following me back home like a cute little lost puppy.

Something she said suddenly registered in my mind though. "Ruby, are you really planning to hang out with me every day this week?" She gave me a puzzled nod, looking as if I had just asked her whether the sky was blue. "You... know you don't have to do that, right?" I asked hesitantly, wondering if I had somehow given her the wrong impression.

She looked taken aback by my question, before she slumped dejectedly. "If you don't want to hang out with me... all you needed to do is say so," Ruby said in a depressed voice, a cloud of doom and gloom appearing to hover around her.

I was pretty stunned by her reaction, or rather her overreaction. Now, I'm aware that I don't know a lot about girls, but one thing my dad always drilled into my head when I was younger was to make sure that if I liked a girl, I would always try to make her as happy as possible. I had already failed with Pyrrha, there was no way in hell I would allow Ruby to go the same way. "NO! Not like that, I just didn't want you to think that you needed to, you know, hang out around with me," I stammered, hoping that I was saying the right thing. "Wouldn't your friends get mad if you just stopped hanging out with them?"

If anything, it made Ruby even more depressed, her head drooping even lower and her arms clutching my hoodie even tighter to herself. "I... I don't really have any other friends," she whispered. "My sister is really overprotective, and when she sees me try to make friends, she..."

I hurriedly cut her off, not wanting to know what Ruby's sister did to her prospective friends. In matter of fact, I hoped never to meet with Ruby's sister, although that might just be wishful thinking on my part. "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to," I consoled Ruby, giving her what I hoped was a reassuring smile. "We're friends, so there'll be plenty of time to learn things like that in future. For now, let's just get back to my house and out of the cold, alright?"

Pulling my hoodie out of her hands, I pulled it over her head and pulled it down, securing her snugly in its warmth. Ruby just looked at me with an unfathomable gaze, before she looked down at the hoodie. "...It's warm," she whispered, sliding her arms through the sleeves and hugging it to herself.

We continued to walk in comfortable silence after that. I could feel Ruby glancing at me every now and then, although I didn't think too much about it. It did get a bit awkward though as she started walking closer to me, our shoulders almost touching and our hands even brushing. Either way, nothing much happened on the rest of the way back to my house, and we finally reached my house without any further incident.

Walking up to the front door, I fished out the keys from my pocket and unlocked it then pushed it wide open. "After you, Milady," I affected a fake grandiose tone and a posh accent, sweeping into a low bow as I ushered my companion towards the door, and was rewarded with a small giggle. "Well, aren't you just the biggest gentleman?" Ruby teased as she entered the house, making me blush and look away in embarrassment. It wasn't as if I would normally do something like this; it's just that, after that incident earlier, I felt like I had to do something to make it up to Ruby... curse my mind for coming up with something like this.

Standing awkwardly on the front porch and waiting for my furious blush to die down, I suddenly noticed Pyrrha's mom standing in the neighboring yard and hanging her laundry, all the while giving me this weird look with her eyes. I hesitantly gave her a wave, one that she didn't return, then I freaked out and hurriedly entered my house. To my surprise, I heard the sounds of Ruby rummaging around in my kitchen while music blared from a radio she had appropriated from... somewhere.

Listening to the music, I couldn't identify what song it was, but I could honestly say that I quite liked it and even found it rather catchy. Humming along with the tune, I went into the kitchen to get myself something to drink, only to find Ruby zipping around my kitchen while wearing my jacket and making herself a large batch of cookies. My jaw hung open as the bicolored girl almost seemed to dance, moving in tempo with the song and shifting around the kitchen so fast that she appeared to be in several places at once; whisking ingredients together at the counter, measuring out portions on a tray, checking the oven's temperature and sneaking in little bites of cookie dough as she swapped out trays of unbaked cookies with trays of freshly-baked, delicious-looking cookies that filled the air with their sweet fragrance.

Despite the feast before my eyes, my eyes were firmly fixed on Ruby. For the first time since I had met her today, I was seeing Ruby without a care in the world: smiling as she tasted the dough or cracked an egg into the next batch of ingredients, her unique red-and-black hair flowing around her head like a living creature, always in motion, but never for a second obscuring her vision as she moved about happily in my kitchen.

Ruby must have sensed my scrutiny, because she suddenly turned towards me with an Eep and a startled, doe-in-the-highlights look, before blushing under my gaze and causing me to blush along with her. The two of us were wondering what to say in the sudden silence (the song having ended without our notice) when a loud ding informed us that the latest batch of cookies had finished baking.

"W-What did you see?" Ruby asked, stammering as she hurriedly opened the oven to retrieve the cookies. She had apparently found my mother's old set of mittens from somewhere and was wearing them while handling the piping hot trays. That made way more sense than attempting to hold the hot metal with her bare hands... I should probably stop sidetracking.

Looking at Ruby who was studiously avoiding my eyes, I wondered whether to tell her that I had watched her for nearly ten whole minutes and had seen pretty much everything that she was doing in my kitchen, including that little twirl she sometimes added in when she took a bite of cookie dough, or the way she had to wipe the drool from her face when she looked at the baked cookies for too long. Finally, Dad's advice to me regarding females and awkward situations registered in my mind, and I decided to feign ignorance while changing to a less awkward topic.

"So, how many times a week will I have to restock on my ingredients?" I asked as casually as I could, walking over to the fridge to get my drink and hiding a smile when Ruby visibly relaxed at my non-answer. Grabbing the carton of orange juice, I was about to take a swig directly from it, then thought better of it and poured us two glasses of juice instead.

Ruby gave me a grateful smile as I handed her a glass, sipping the juice as she leaned against the counter and watched me return the carton to the fridge. "I'll restock the ingredients whenever I come over to make cookies, so you shouldn't need to do it too often," she joked, then poked her tongue out at me when I shook my head and mock-tutted at her.

"As long as you don't use up all of my food just making cookies, I'm fine with it."

After we finished our drinks and washed the glasses, I helped Ruby bring her cookies out into the living room so we could sit there and watch movies while eating them. To my surprise, Ruby pull some folded papers out of her pocket and give me a really adorable, puppy-eyed look. "Jaune, do you think you could help me out with my homework, pleeease?"

I was so tempted to say that I just wanted to relax, but almost as if sensing my answer, her silver eyes seemed to quiver and tear up, sending guilt stabbing into my soul for even thinking of saying no. But, I had to persevere! "Ruby… I-I really just wanted to sit and not even think about school," Ruby seemed to shrink until a chibi version of her was sitting beside me with her trembling hands still holding up the papers to me and watery eyes threatening to spill, "...A-And I just finished doing my projects and my brain feels like mush," A faint sniffle could be heard, and a single folorn tear rolled down her cheek. I immediately caved under the mind-crushing, relentless assault. "...So how about we eat some cookies to recover our energy and then start working on it?"

Ruby instantly wiped away all her tears and returned to her normal cheerful self, as if the previous scene had not existed at all. "Thank you! I don't really get math all that well, and I think my sister doesn't even know homework exists..." That was all I could make out before she descended on the cookies, devouring them at a ravenous pace without even seeming to chew or swallow. I simply grabbed a handful and munched on them while watching Ruby put on a show for me. Barely 5 minutes later all the cookies were gone, save for a plate I had hidden behind me when I realized she wouldn't be leaving any for me otherwise.

"So, you ready to start on your math yet?" I asked curiously. True, I was suckered into helping Ruby with her homework, but that didn't mean I was going to slack off in my effort.

Ruby just gave me a groan, slumping on the table after I had wiped away the crumbs with a dish cloth. "Can't we just make some more cookies?" She asked, glaring at the papers as if hoping they would burn, while her mouth watered at the thought of more cookies. It made for a rather contradictory, though amusing image, but I had other things on my mind right now.

"Nope, you made me agree to help you with your homework, so now we are gonna do some homework." I replied, pulling her up by her shoulder and sitting down with her to read through the questions on the paper.

Twenty minutes and one escape attempt later, we had just finished with the homework and were now just enjoying each other's company. I had learned from talking to her that she was very good with cars and mechanical engineering, being at the level where she was already starting to work on her own moped. Stars sparkled in her eyes when she spoke of her precious Crescent Rose, but that particular topic ground to an awkward halt when I asked if she could legally drive such a vehicle. Even now she was still pouting about that.

We spent the rest of the night on the couch, only getting up to get more drinks from the kitchen or to use the bathroom, watching random movies on Netflix that we thought looked interesting. I was more interested in the sci-fi movies, while Ruby was surprisingly adamant about watching at least one scary movie. We finally settled on watching a horror movie about this T.V. film crew that got stuck in a haunted hospital or something. I couldn't really pay attention to the movie as my eyes kept getting riveted to Ruby, who was squealing and wrapping herself around a pillow every single time something scary happened, or gripping it in tense anticipation as the creepy music started to play. When the movie was finally over, with the last scene complete including the after-credits bonus scene, Ruby sprang up from her hiding place on the couch as if she wasn't deathly scared just seconds ago.

"I call dibs on the next scary movie...!"

I took the remote from Ruby and put on something I wanted, deliberately ignoring her childish pout. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed watching Ruby's reactions throughout the movie, but I still wanted to watch at least one normal movie during the sleepover.

At some point during the second movie, Ruby got up and headed into the kitchen, coming back a few moments later with a glass of milk in hand. Sitting down beside me, she leaned against me and gently rested her head on my shoulder, causing me to tense up instantly in my seat. It took several long minutes for my rapidly beating heart to calm down enough for me to relax. Neither one of us said anything for the rest of the movie, simply enjoying each other's warmth and presence as we watched the movie, a prominent blush on our features as our eyes drifted towards each other on occasion, only to catch the other doing it also and immediately averting our eyes once they met. Despite the awkwardness I felt... it felt nice. For the first time since everything started, I found myself truly content.


	5. Chapter 5

My head was buried into my pillows as I woke up. It was nice, the feeling of warmth that had gathered inside the comforter throughout the night. But I knew that I had to get up and get ready for school so I trudged my way out of my bed and into the bathroom and took a shower. I stayed in for about 10 minutes, most of which was me with my head against the wall of the shower as I let the hot water wake me up.

After my shower I went back to my room and got dressed in a pair of jeans and dark yellow X-ray and Vav tee-shirt. When I came downstairs I finally made the effort to see that I had about... 1 hour before before school started. Which meant that I had about 40 minutes before I either got on the bus or walked to school this morning. I decided that I would walk as I made myself some cereal. It was looking like it would be a nice day so why not? I got my stuff together and threw my regular black hoodie over my shoulder along with my bag and started my trek about thirty minutes early.

I was right about it being a nice day, a slight breeze was blowing the morning air still had a bit of a chill that felt nice on my arms. The sun was barely starting to rise and it left an ethereal haze on the world that was just enjoyable to look at. But as I started to walk down the street as I was passing Pyrrha's house, her mother stepped out of the house and waved me over to her. I had the time to waste and although Pyrrha may have disliked me her mother didn't. "Jaune, I was going to ask why you haven't been hanging out with Pyrrha lately. And I'm also curious about that girl that keeps coming to your house. Your not doing anything inappropriate, are you?" she asked with an evil glare that cause me to start sweating under her gaze.

"Sh-she's just a friend. She just doesn't really have anyone else to hangout with so she's always at my place. But I promise you that nothing inappropriate has happened in my house," I said as I slid out of her vision.

I heard her sigh as I was walking away because of my exit before she called out one more time, "Hey, don't forget about Pyrrha's birthday next week. You two should really catch up sometime!" she yelled as I was already a good distance down the street at this point. I felt bad about just walking away from Mrs. Nikos like that, but it wasn't like I was going to go to Pyrrha's birthday anyway. Not if the other girls were there at least.

While these thoughts were crossing through my mind, I had reached Beacon and I was going to the library to wait for classes to start when I ran into Weiss. Literally ran into. She was knocked to the floor by our impact and was still dazed when I offered her my hand out of the habit of helping people. She had taken my hand and was already berated me on general when she finally stood up and actually looked at me. "You better be glad that I wasn't hurt, because if I was-," she stopped long enough to look at me and then switched into her average mood to me right away, "Of course the only person who would be stupid enough to run into me would be you. Why are you even at the library anyway? Its not like you'll be able to actually make use of anything in here. Or are you just trying to find a place to be because you don't have any friends?" She said in her usual cold tone that said that her life would not be affected anyway in the slightest if I was to die.

Her words had no affect on me for more than a few reasons. One of them was that she said that I didn't have any friends. Normally this would have me in a down mood as it was true, and it almost happened this time. Then I remembered the words of a Rose and it didn't bother me at all. "Don't worry. From now on I'll be your bestest friend ever, and I will never leave you. I promise." After that I decided to try and solve this by acting as care free as my new friend.

I just looked at Weiss like a normal person with my newfound resolve, "Weiss, I'm sorry for running into you. Are you okay?" I asked with a small smile as I was still thinking of Ruby.

She was looking at me like I had grown a second head. "Of course I'm okay!" she exclaimed after she snapped out of her stupor. "Just who do you think I am Arc?" she asked angrily, like my question about her well-being was a blow to her pride.

"Well I think your just a regular girl. You have weird hair, but that's your choice," I said rather honestly as I turned around and started walking away, "Well I'll see you around Ice Queen, try not to melt any time soon with that temper of yours," I finished laughing at my own joke as I waved to Weiss as I went elsewhere. Instead of hearing her huff and stomp away I heard Pyrrha walk up to her and ask if she was okay. All I could hear was her say, "It was just some idiot. Nobody you need to concern yourself with."

After that the rest of the day passed with no real flare, but History was interesting because we were learning about an ancient culture that believed in a race of animal-human hybrids called Faunus. They also believed that the world would be destroyed by a dark force known only as "The Grimm".

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POV: Third Person

A few weeks had passed since the last major incident between Jaune and the girls, and now Pyrrha and the other girls are hanging out in the living room as today was her birthday. All of the girls were fairly excited as this was the first time that they could all have celebrated Pyrrha's birthday together. She was turning 15 but being the humble person that she is she decided to have a small party and just invite the girls and hope that one more person would show up.

The other girls knew who she was thinking about and only got more aggravated when Pyrrha's mom and dad left with the message that they had tried inviting him to said party. This person was Jaune Arc, the symbol of shared hatred between three of the four females left in the house.

The girls themselves would have been walking around the city and having some fun themselves, but one last chill had crept into the city of Vale before the heat of summer drove it away for a good few months. As it was, the girls were all in the living room and talking about school and other such things, when they realized that Pyrrha herself wasn't all that into the conversation. Yang, never being one to beat around the bush decided to ask, "You okay, you seemed really out of it?"

She didn't turn to look at them and instead gazed out the window. "I just wish that Jaune was here. Its just feels like something is missing when he isnt here for the big moments. Like today," she finished ruefully as she had come to regret the choice of ostracizing Jaune for the past few months.

The other girls grit their teeth at her words, mostly because she had been regretting her choice regarding Jaune for a month or two now. They all could never see what she saw in the blonde idiot and always hated when she thought about him like that.

Before the girls could do anything, Pyrrha had hopped out of her seat on the couch and was heading to the door with a determined look on her face. "I'm gonna go ask him if he wants to come over," She said. The girls started protesting about how he shouldn't come over, but their words fell on deaf ears.

She was already up and walking through the door, only to stop when she had turned to view Jaune's house. There, Jaune was walking towards his house with a girl that looked about two years younger than him. She could only assume this much as the girl was currently wearing Jaune's black hoodie. Pyrrha couldn't hear what was being said, but she could tell that the girl was the more enthusiastic of the two when it came to the conversation.

The sports star was about to go over and try and see what they were talking about when she saw the two go into his house with no preamble of waiting on the doorstep.

Blake then made her way outside of the house to the doorstep and was giving Pyrrha a questioning look. "He might not even be home Pyrr. Maybe it just wasn't meant to be, if he's not home," she said, trying one last time to convince her not to try and get Jaune.

Pyrrha waited for a second before stepping back inside, staring at the door that Jaune just recently stepped through. She refused to believe that the introverted boy that she liked had gotten a girlfriend. But the fact still remained that Jaune was with another girl, when he knew it was her birthday. While at first there was a slight feeling of depression at first, it was soon replaced by a feeling of anger. Anger at Jaune and the girl that had 'stolen' him from her.

When Pyrrha returned to the couch back to where she was previously, she was silent before she turned back to her friends who all had a curious and happy look in their eyes. "He had some company, and I didn't want to bother him," she said. The other girls all gave her the carry on motion with their hands, "He had a girl over and he seemed like he was having a good time."

Silence reigned over the room for a second before Weiss spoke up, "What kind of girl would want to go out with him?"

Yang spoke next with obvious disdain in her voice, "She must be some kind of slut if she's desperate enough to date him."

Both girls realized that the newest girl to join their group had previously had a crush on the blond. "No offence to you of course," they both said rapidly, as the tall redhead glared daggers into them.

While the girl were insulting the blonde and unknown girl, said girl was currently curled up beside said blonde on his couch, where both had fallen asleep as Ruby insisted on watching some random documentary about whales


	6. This is by far my favorite Chapter

I was in Jaune's kitchen making myself something to eat when I thought about how I woke up. Putting the last of the cookie dough into the oven, I blushed remembering that I had woken up with my head on the shoulder of the blonde goofball and his arms wrapped around me. It took me a while to get over the awkwardness of waking up within the embrace of my crush, but after that I just snuggled into him and enjoyed it.

As I set the timer I remembered how warm he was, how comfortable I was in his arms. Not in a bad way, it was more like I didn't want to let him go. But eventually my stomach grumbled, so I forced myself to get up and make some breakfast.

It was really frustrating the first few weeks after I realized that I liked him, because he never seemed to get any of the hints that I dropped for him. I had tried everything that my sister usually did when she brought home boys she liked, but it didn't seem to work on Jaune. Yang would hug the guy and squish her chest up against his but sadly I don't have the same womanly appeal as my big sister, so I don't think Jaune notices when I try and do it to him... She also looks at the guy all funny and he would blush, but when I tried to copy that look on Jaune he asked if I was okay.

ARGHH!

After those horribly embarrassing failed attempts that I will never speak of again, I tried to do things differently and went online and found an article that was conveniently on point to what I was going through. 'How To' For Socially Awkward Girls: How To Get Oblivious Guys To Like You. Not that I'm socially awkward. I just don't have that many friends, and I get nervous around a lot of people and… Yeah, I'm a socially awkward person.

Anyway, when I was reading the article, it said that I could do either one of two things. I could passively wait for him to start liking me, or I can actively ask him out. But both of those things make me nervous because if I waited he might end up liking another girl from his school, and if I asked him out he might say no. It's so confusing, I need some cookies to help me think...

*Ding!*

Ohh! The cookies are done! I quickly blew on them to cool them off so I could eat the delicious little pieces of heaven. Just as I was about to bend over and sample my first tasty treat of the morning, I saw Jaune deadpan at me from the doorway of his kitchen.

"No more cookies for you today, Ruby. If you're that desperate for your fix, then you're just not getting anymore," he said as I pouted. He would always claim that I could only have so many cookies because they were bad for me, something about an addiction. I know that he only does it because he cares, but Dad and Yang always let me have all the cookies I want...

Running up to him, I gave him a hug while giving him my best pout and puppy-eye combo, "Please Jaune, you can't do this to me! Pleeease!" Okay, maybe I used the combo too many times on him in the past, since Jaune just rolled his eyes and shrugged me off... Don't make me break out the big guns on you Mister!

"No. If you eat cookies like you normally do you'll die by the time you're thirty," he said with a stern look in his eyes that said don't argue. Then he let go of me and promptly took one of my cookies off the tray and ate it. The nerve of some people, eating my cookies! Right after he said they were bad for me too! Fine, I'm breaking out the big guns!

"Uuu..." My eyes started to grow teary, and I sniffed sadly while looking at Jaune. Hah, I can see the guilt stabbing him... take that!

"Okay, okay! Just... eat slowly, okay?" He caved in and let me eat my cookies. I was tempted to just finish all the cookies immediately to show him that I could, but still... I kinda liked the way he would fuss over me doing silly things like that. I guess I can eat slower and let him have some cookies too.

It took both of us 5 whole minutes to finish the cookies, then we cleaned up the kitchen and went back to the living room. While talking about what we wanted to watch, I had an idea about what we could do, "We should go out to eat! We can just walk around the city and find a place to eat!"

Jaune looked thoughtful for a second before he gave me that smile that always made my stomach feel all fluttery and weird. "I know a place not too far from here. It's only like a 15 minute walk," he said as he went upstairs to get some money.

I was still wearing Jaune's hoodie so I knew that I would be fine in the cold, but it made me feel bad because he didn't have anything to wear... Then he came down wearing a black sweatshirt. I could have smacked myself in the face, we were in Jaune's house so of course he has other stuff to change into. At least it gives me a good excuse to keep on wearing his hoodie, ehehe.

We left the house after that and as usual, I put up the hood of the jacket. I liked wearing his hoodie because it made me feel warm and safe. And because it smelled like Jaune, and felt like Jaune was hugging me all over. Ahh! I can feel my face burning, bad thoughts Ruby! Luckily the hood was up or Jaune would have asked me strange questions again... like the time he brought his face so close to mine while asking if I had a fever... STOP! BAD THOUGHTS!

Anyway, this was actually the first time I could hang out with Jaune this week because Yang has been keeping a closer eye on me as of late, and I honestly did want to spend some time with her since she had been spending a lot of time with her friends. So we just did things that we usually did, like working on our respective vehicles and sparring with each other. Yang had been using me as her punching bag ever since she got into boxing because she claimed I was small and hard to hit, but I picked up enough to not end each fight covered with bruises. I'm still not good enough to beat her at hand-to-hand, although there was that one time I clonked her a good one with a pipe I found lying around... She gave me the Noogie of Death after that though. Ow, my head feels sore just thinking about it...

As we walked, we enjoyed each other's company while talking about stuff like how our week was, how much homework sucked, and how long it took for me to finish because I couldn't ask Jaune for help. Eventually, we reached the place that Jaune wanted to go to, and I saw that it was just your typical everyday bakery. I gave Jaune a questioning look when we stopped in front of it. "Is this place really that good?"

He just ran his hand through his soft golden locks and laughed at my doubt. "I thought you would like this place because its specialty is strawberry-themed desserts, but if you don't want them..." Before he finished his sentence I was dragging him through the door of the bakery. The guy at the counter laughed when he saw us, and I turned around and blushed when I saw Jaune flailing about on the floor with his hand gripped tightly in mine.

After Jaune got up and dusted himself off, the man at the counter asked us what we wanted. Jaune was the one placing the orders though, I was far too engrossed drooling at all of the strawberry goodness that was just beyond the glass. Oh! Those pieces of bread have the berry of the gods veined through them in swirly patterns along with a bit of chocolate! Deciding that I wanted some of those, I joined Jaune's conversation to tell the cashier what I wanted. "I want some of those strawberry chocolate bread things right there!" I yelled excitedly as I pointed to said pieces of bread.

The man just laughed again at my attitude, "Well, your boyfriend here already got that for you. Everything else is sold out and I don't have the time to bake anything else before we close." I blushed as he called Jaune my boyfriend, but I didn't bother to correct him. To my surprise, Jaune didn't either as we walked to the back of the shop to wait for the bread.

We just stood around awkwardly while avoiding each other's eyes, but I did notice Jaune glancing at me a couple of times with red on his cheeks. Oh no, he's embarrassed that he was called my boyfriend, does that mean that he doesn't like me? Or does he actually like me? I felt like banging my head against the wall of the shop, but before I could do so the man from the counter came back with a paper bag filled with two baguette-sized pieces of bread. Jaune paid for those and thanked him, then we left the shop with the man's cheery 'come again' ringing in our ears.

I was so worried about whether or not Jaune liked me, that I almost didn't realize he was waving one of the two pieces of bread in front of my face, "Hey Ruby, you okay? You haven't asked for your bread yet... But then again we might want to wait until we get home to eat them, I didn't think they would make them this big when I ordered them..."

"I-I was just thinking about..." I couldn't help the stutter that came into my voice, and I felt my cheeks heating up uncomfortably again.

"Oh... Is it about how the guy at the bakery called us a couple?" I nodded my head quietly as I saw the blush return to his face, the cold air around us seeming to warm up a bit. "I-I'm sure the guy was just messing with us, haha... I mean, who would want to date me? I'm just a... goofball," he finished with a slight frown on his face, one that I would have surely missed if I hadn't spent so much time observing his expressions.

"No you're not," I said in an almost whisper, so quiet that I thought I hadn't said it myself.

But he turned to me anyway and gave me a smile so fake it made my chest hurt. "You think so Rubes? I guess maybe I'll find the right girl someday."

I stopped there in my tracks, thinking about what he said. I didn't want someday, and I didn't want him to find the right girl. I'm right here, and I want today. Jaune turned around and came back to me after he took a few more steps, and I saw the worry etched on his face. He was about to speak, but I beat him to it, "Jaune, what's wrong with you tonight? You seem sad."

He paused at my sudden question, but responded quickly, "Nothing you need to worry about. Now lets get home," he said, grabbing my hand before he started walking away.

But I held my ground, not wanting to let it go so easily. "I want to worry about you Jaune," I said in another whisper. He turned around and before he could tell me to let it go, I spoke louder, "You do so much for me. You help me with my homework, you go take me to dinner, you even saved my life! No matter what I do you never get mad at me and you never ask me for anything. Jaune, whenever I'm around you I always feel happy because you make me that way. All I want is to make you happy. So please, tell me what I can do to make you feel the way I do?" I said, tears threatening to spill out of my eyes from my emotional outburst.

He stood there for a moment before he wrapped me in a hug. "Ruby, you're my friend. My best friend. All I need to be happy is knowing that you're happy." He said soothingly.

Even after all that I just told him he still doesn't know that I like him. I looked into his blue eyes, and saw the genuine care that he felt for me as he tried to comfort me on the sidewalk. I had to go all out. "Jaune, I don't want to be your friend. I never want to be your friend again." When I said that I could see the pain and confusion that filled his eyes. He loosened his hug on me and with that I leaned forward and pressed my lips against his.

The kiss may not have been anything over the top, but it did take my breath away. For the first seconds he froze and did nothing as I kissed him, but then he started kissing me back! We stood there for who knows how long, but eventually we separated with a heavy blush when a passing car honked at us as it passed by. He held his forehead to mine as I looked into his eyes hoping for attraction to the kiss. He stared into my eyes for a few seconds before giving me a smile that made my heart melt as he spoke, "You taste like cookies."

And with that both of us erupted into laughter. After we both calmed down we made our way back to his house. Anyone that passed us saw a weird sight, a tall blonde and a shorter hooded figure both walking and eating a huge piece of strawberry chocolate bread thingy, with the shorter of the two wrapped around the arm of the blonde. I didn't care if they stared. Jaune was mine and I was happy. And one look at him and I could tell that he was feeling the same thing.


	7. Chapter 7

"I don't want to be your friend, I never want to be your friend again!"

I loosened the hug I had on her, not believing her words. My only friend, the girl who had become such a staple of my life, the constant pillar of support that gave me the courage to face each day; she was leaving me.

She slipped out of my arms, turned and ran away, leaving me standing there. I tried to follow her but she was too fast, I quickly lost sight of her. But still I ran, hoping that I could capture a glimpse of my precious rose. But she wasn't there, she was gone, and I knew that I would never see her again...

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"Jaune, wake up! We're going on a date today remember?!" I gasped as I woke up, blinking in confusion at the excited voice of my girlfriend then grunting as she jumped on me to wake me up.

Blearily looking over to the clock that was lying beside my bed on the table, I saw that it was 8:30 in the morning. Normally I would be mad at my overly-excited girlfriend for waking me up so early, since our date wasn't supposed to be for another 4 hours, but after the dream I just had I could only feel relief. Sitting up, I threw my arms around Ruby, effectively stopping her from bouncing on me and causing her to squeak in embarrassment.

"Promise me something?" I asked the black-and-redhead who was blushing in my arms.

Even after a whole summer of dating, she still blushed like crazy if I did anything more than hold her hand. The first time I kissed Ruby after her rather dramatic confession, she looked like a tomato that would faint from the blood rushing to her head. Even now, my surprise hug was causing her cheeks to be dusted with a bright shade of red.

Seeing her nod to my question, I continued. "Promise me that you'll never leave me Ruby."

I didn't care that I was begging her, that it would make me look weak. I just couldn't imagine life without Ruby by my side, the nightmare I had making my fears seem all too real a possibility.

Ruby looked up at me with caring silver eyes... then she bonked me hard on the top of my head. "Gah! What the hell was that for! I was being serious!" I yelled, rolling around in my bed while clutching my head at the spot where her fist had met my cranium.

Ruby was giggling like crazy at my antics, having jumped off my bed before I started rolling around. I gave her a hurt puppy-eyed look that only served to make her burst out in peals of laughter, then she finally managed to calm herself down when I huffed and turned away in a fake pout. "Why would I ever leave you? You're my boyfriend and my best friend," she said while giving me a warm hug. Seeing my relieved smile, she gave me a quick kiss on the cheek and blushed before running out of my room yelling, "Now hurry up and get dressed! I made pancakes for breakfast!"

I absently rubbed my cheek as I sat up, already feeling the goofy smile plastered across my face. Since I was already dressed in a plain black t-shirt and some dark blue basketball shorts, I just got out of bed and went into the bathroom, splashing some water on my face and washing out my mouth before heading downstairs. When I finally got to the kitchen, I saw Ruby putting some syrup on her stack of pancakes, a similar stack heaped on my plate at my usual seat. Sitting down, I grabbed my utensils then a thought suddenly crossed my mind. "Hey Ruby, when did you get here?"

She didn't even blink as she carved up her pancakes, "About 30 minutes ago."

"Which window did you use this time?" I asked with an exasperated sigh as I spread syrup on my own pancakes and quickly dug in. This was an old routine, so I wasn't really that annoyed. It still amazed me however that Ruby could so effortlessly break into my house by climbing in through the windows, even when they were shut.

Said redhead put the last of her pancakes into her mouth and swallowed, licking her lips happily. "Your parents', of course," she replied, patting her belly. "The tree is there."

I just shook my head as I reached over into a drawer and pulled out something, throwing it to the unsuspecting 14 year old. She caught it and peered at it in curiosity. "A key?" She asked me quizzically, holding up a black-and-red painted key.

I felt a dull flush creep up my neck and coughed awkwardly to clear the embarrassment. "I got it made for you the other day because I don't want you to break your neck climbing into my house everyday. Not that you should be here this early anyway," I replied, whispering the last part to myself.

Ruby disappeared from her seat in a blur, and the next thing I know she's squeezing me to death with her slender but incredibly strong frame, "Thank you! Thank you! You're the best boyfriend ever!" She gushed, carefully adding my housekeys to her keychain. The hyperactive girl bounced impatiently in her seat, barely letting me finish my pancakes before dragging me to the living room to watch some random movie.

Before Ruby could push me onto the couch to watch whatever movie she picked today, I excused myself and ran upstairs so I could get dressed beforehand for our date after the movie. I knew that if I had sat down with Ruby, she wouldn't let me up until the movie was over and she was sufficiently cuddled with. It was one of the quirks I figured out about my girlfriend. It was clear she could've cared less about watching the movies after the first few times we sat up all night watching mutiple movies in a row; what she really wanted to do was to cuddle with me, something I wouldn't have minded as much if I didn't ironically enough have much smaller bladder than my smaller girlfriend. It made for some tense moments on my side when I needed to go and Ruby still wanted to cuddle, but a suggestion to carry her into the toilet so I could do my business while she cuddled allowed me to escape, albeit not without some embarrassed punching from her.

I quickly threw on my outfit for the date, a bright blue shirt with my usual pair of jeans. Heading downstairs again, Ruby instantly pulled me onto the couch the moment she saw me, "Hurry up Jaune, you're gonna miss the movie!" I could only smile as she sat down on my lap and wrapped my arms around her, leaning back on my chest and making herself comfortable. I wrapped my arms tighter around her and rested my head on hers, basking in her presence. The first time this happened I was incredibly tense, worried I would accidentally do something to offend her, while Ruby was both blushing and stiff throughout the entire movie. Now, however, it was just a natural position for us to be in.

Eventually I got bored of the movie and decided to bring up a daunting subject, one I had been avoiding for quite a while, "So, school starts in a few days."

"Yep, then when this year is over I'll be in school with you!" Ruby chirped happily, snuggling deeper into my arms. I was used to the way she was slightly obsessed with certain things by this point. At least from what I know, I wasn't the thing she obsessed over the most... I was behind cookies and her moped, but above strawberries. This was lucky, since if I was any higher on the list she would be living here with me already. As of right now she was here at least 3 days every week, and she only toned it down from her original 7 because I told her that her family would start to worry and keep a closer eye on her if she was always gone all the time. The days we had dates though, she would arrive here before I woke up and stay for the night.

Back to her reply though, I couldn't help but feel a bit worried. "Aren't you nervous though?" I asked, recalling my own hellish experiences... then I realized that the only thing she had to deal with at school was just... school. Not a pack of the most popular girls in school making life miserable for her.

"Not really. Well the homework is going to suck, but you can help me with that," she said, poking my arm conspiratorially, "Riiight?"

I couldn't help but smile at her goofiness, "I could... but that would be cheating Rubes, and you know how I feel about that," I teased, giving her body a small squeeze.

"Pleeease? I'll let you have more cookies tomorrow, " she offered, as if that was supposed to change my mind somehow. Then she got an excited look, and hopped out of my lap and ran into the kitchen, "I need to make some cookies!"

I facepalmed, then gave an amused sigh while looking at the clock. We only had 30 minutes before we were supposed to go out, but knowing her she would be in the kitchen for the next 40 minutes at least. Then again, she had wanted to watch a movie, so we could always go later... or more likely just end up waiting for it to show up on Teethflix.

Getting up from the couch, I called into the kitchen as I walked in, "We ran out of chocolate chips to put in the cookies, the last batch you made cleaned me out Rubes." I hoped that this would be enough to make her forget about the cookies so we that could go out, but it was in vain.

"What? Okay! I'll run out on Crescent Rose and get some more, you stay here and prep the dough!" Ruby blurred out of the kitchen, and I heard the sound of Crescent Rose starting up and tearing down the street. With a sigh, I looked around the empty kitchen and spotted the ingredients for the cookie dough already laid out. Like I said, she cares more about cookies than me.

Oh well, I guess I'll just prepare the cookie dough like she said.

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It was the first time in three months that I was entering Beacon again. I sincerely hoped that my schedule wouldn't coincide with any of the four girls who ruined my first year of high school, but this hope was immediately ruined as soon as I walked into Cinder's class for homeroom, seeing that Weiss was one of the few people already in the room along with some other kids that I didn't recognize.

Cinder's room was a highly debated topic by the students, mostly because of the fact that she scorned traditional electrical lighting and instead used a multitude of candles that she replaced every few days. This led to fire extinguishers being placed around the walls along with two seperate fire alarms on either end of the classroom. The smoke detectors on the other hand had to be disabled as they had the tendency to keep triggering all day.

Surprisingly enough, a fire had never started up in Cinder's room. The candles she used were placed above the chalkboard in metal candle holders, spaced at regular intervals along the entirety of the classroom at that altitude. The desks were arranged in rows at the center of the classroom, far away from the walls and facing the chalkboard, with her own desk being behind the students desks and also facing the chalkboard.

Weiss was helping Cinder light the last of the candles with a long taper, so I quietly went to the back corner of the room and sat at one of the desks farthest away from Cinder's, hoping to avoid the attention from the Ice Queen of Beacon. By the time they were finished with the candles and Weiss had finally realized I was there, there were far too many people in the room for her to do anything besides glare at me.

Cinder stood in front of the class. "Okay class, now that the room is lit we can start. Today we'll be reviewing what you have forgotten last year from Geometry," she said as she pulled out a packet that looked thicker than the Geometry textbook. "You have one week to complete this assignment along with a partner who will be assigned to you. Failure to complete this on time will result in you being dropped back to your normal Math, which will result in an F for your first grading period," she finished as several of the students started sweating, including me.

One of the rules placed on me by my father was that if I ever got an F for my grades he would personally come back from his work trip just so he could punch me into the dirt. Realizing that my life was on the line, I paid careful attention to the partnering. The 7th name Cinder called was mine and I perked up. "Jaune Arc will be paired with... Weiss Schnee." As I groaned internally, Cinder was interrupted by an angry heiress who had raised her hand to cut her off.

"Ms. Falls, may I please request a different partner? I feel as if working with...him may cause me to receive a bad grade on the assignment," she said with an angered and disgusted tone.

Cinder apparently didn't care about her problems, as she simply fixed Weiss with a no-nonsense stare. "Ms. Schnee, I assure you that Mr. Arc will not be a hindrance to you. He did just as well as you last year, if not even better."

This was clearly a bad thing to say to the Snow Angel however. "I refuse to believe that this idiot could possibly do better than me. He probably can't even count his fingers without using a calculator," she snarled before storming out, leaving the entire class to turn their heads to me in disbelief. I shrunk inwardly, knowing I was already being labeled a target of the girls' abuse. This year was already shaping up to be worse than the previous year, especially if this kept up.

A loud clap from Cinder broke us out from our shock. "Enough! Mr. Arc, I don't care what issues you are having with Ms. Schnee, but if you are unable to work it out and complete your assignment on time then I am dropping both of you back to normal Math. Is that understood?"

I nodded dumbly, already hearing the whispers accusing me of holding Weiss back and plans to take revenge on her behalf if I caused her to be dropped back to normal Math. Apparently no one cared if she was the one to throw a tantrum and walk out of class, because after all she was one of their beloved Queens while I was less than a nobody. Likewise, even though Weiss was the one who refused to work with me, I would be the only one blamed by them if she caused us to be demoted to normal Math.

After a miserable first period, I made my way to Port's class. Weiss wasn't in it, but Blake was. Any hopes I had that it would be better were dashed when Blake spent most of the period glaring at me, something that our classmates quickly noticed, although Port himself seemed oblivious to it. That, along with the reaction Weiss gave to being partnered with me made a lot of people suspicious about what kind of person I was to have two of the most popular girls in our grade treat me with such clear hostility right from the start of the year.

As I was walking through the halls after the second period I could hear the hushed conversations that followed me and halted whenever I got too close.

"Weiss called him an idiot in 1st, but he's in all the advanced classes. Do you think he cheated to get into them?"

"I heard that he cheated on Pyrrha last year, and that's why they're all mad at him."

"When I tried asking Pyrrha about Jaune in 2nd she would only mutter something about him and some girl that's a few years younger than him. You don't think he's a..."

And with that, not even a full day had passed before a few words and some heated glares had turned into me being a cheater and whatever nasty titles they could come up with for me. It didn't matter that me and Pyrrha were never a thing, or that I had taken those tests fair and square in front of witnesses; no one asked or cared for my input, and so the rumors spread.

By the time the end of the day rolled around and I walked into Oobleck's room for 6th, I was met with the grinning face of Yang Xiao Long who was facing a small audience of our classmates and telling them how I was the worst kind of person. My heart sank. If this was anything to go by, then my first day of school was just the first day of what promised to be a horrible year.


	8. Chapter 8

Life is strange. It gives us more than enough reasons to leave and be free from whatever pain is ailing us. But then it contradicts itself and gives a gift so great that it drives out the pain, so we don't want to go. I sat on the roof of Beacon contemplating the pros and cons of my dilemma, my eyes cast to the ground that lay below in thought. The escape from all my woes lies right in front of me and if I left then no one that's here would care in the slightest. Some of them would be ecstatic even. But before I could tell myself that I would do it, one thought crossed my mind. A thought of the red and black haired girl that I had given my heart to in the past few months. Of how empty I would feel without her and how she would feel even if I knew she would get over me and eventually find someone else. A part of me, one much bigger than the one that wanted escape, never wanted Ruby to be hurt. Never wanted her to be hurt because of me.

Knowing what I wanted to do I took one last look at the letter my father sent me. I read it one more time to make sure there was nothing in it that could change my mind, but I almost knew the message by heart.  
 _  
_' _Hey Jaune, how are you? Your mom is wondering if you're eating enough, but I trust you so I'm not gonna ask. As you know we've been at the old Faunus city of Menagerie for a few months now, trying to study the medicine they used. While it's a very slow going process it's not nearly as expensive as we thought. That being said we were going over our yearly budget and we saw that we had enough for you to come out to Menagerie with us. Before you ask about school, you're mother talked with a few universities that owe us some favors and they said that they would be glad to take you on our teachings if you pass an entry exam. We won't be mad if you say no, seeing as you have your friends, but know that either way the offer stands until the end of the month. That's when the company will take the extra money out of the budget.'_

My legs dangled from the edge of the roof as I gripped the letter tightly, small doubts still running through my mind like rabbits in a field. Seemingly small but just enough to disturb the peace of the grass.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw some students who were also outside for lunch, just at a lower altitude, looking up at me and pointing. They must have not known you could get up here without breaking the rules. I'm sure most of them were just looking at me as if I was crazy for being up here with my legs dangling off the edge, but a few were more accepting of this by some joking yells of, "Jump!" and, "Life isn't worth living!"

I stood up and made an exaggerated show of "almost" taking a step off, making some of the people who were yelling for me to do such a thing to gasp. I didn't wait for them to start yelling for me not to do it and turned around to get ready for lunch to end. I grabbed my small bag of school supplies and put on my usual black hoodie overtop of the Mogar shirt I was wearing.

When I got to the bottom of the staircase that led to the roof, the bell that signified the end of lunch rang and I started making my way to Mason's class for fifth period. It was by far my favorite class mostly because none of my own personal devils were in it. Only 11 other people were in the class, making it my smallest of the year, and when I arrived I took my seat in the back corner on autopilot. Four people got here before me and one topic of conversation seemed to be about an idiot that almost jumped off the roof. Hearing that caused a small smile to for on my visage, not that anyone noticed me. Unless one of the girls was around me and making fun of me or something no one seemed to notice that I even existed.

I pushed my rather depressing thoughts to the side for a moment and thought of my girlfriend. It was approaching our four month anniversary and I had no idea what I was going to do for it. I had gotten the key I gave her made for that exact purpose but I rather her have it and not break her neck than not have a present for an anniversary. Normally this wouldn't be a big deal as normally we had just gotten each other small gifts, but she seemed to have something big planned. The entire week she hadn't been coming around nearly as much and whenever she did come over she seemed nervous.

Hopefully it would turn around tonight as we had an actual date planned. We were going to meet up at the park where we first met, and from there she said that she was going to take me somewhere before we went to a restaurant. I had picked out the place specifically because it was one of the few places where we hadn't gone to eat yet that served some kind of cookie or strawberry themed desert. The one time I brought Ruby to a place that didn't have either of those she complained the entire time and made me promise to always make sure that any place we went to had one of those two things.

Most of the class had made its way into the room at this point and Mason had started her daily lesson. I didn't really pay attention though as this was the last review before the test and it was all about stuff that we had gone over before. I just propped my head on my hand in a "Thinker"-esque pose and tried to keep some semblance of paying attention so that way I wouldn't get called out for not paying attention.

20 Minutes Earlier

Third Person POV: With The Girls In The Cafeteria

Weiss, Pyrrha, Blake, and Yang sat at a table that rested near the edge of the cafeteria with differing expressions on their faces. Pyrrha sat with a small frown that many said had become her default over the past week, but no one knew exactly why. No one outside of the three sitting at the table with her. The tall crimson haired girl had a face of sorrow because she still was trying to figure out how to reconnect with her old friend of many years, but anything she thought of was shot down from the people around her with several cries of, "He's not worth the effort."

Yang was talking with her friends like she always did, being the most outspoken of the group and often the leader of their conversations. But today several silences ran throughout the table as Yang seemed to fade off in worry for a subject that remained a secret even from her friends. She was currently fretting over her half-sister Ruby Rose. Her sister had been so happy and full of life over the last few months and now she seemed to be a nervous wreck. She was always going out and never seemed to say where she was going, so Yang had tried following her a few times but Ruby had made her Crescent Rose to go at speeds that shouldn't be possible for a moped. She would then proceed to come home at late hours of the night covered in a little bit of dirt before going to sleep.

Blake was acting the most like herself because she simply had nothing to worry about. Either that or she was the best at hiding if anything was wrong with her. She simply sat there reading her book while listening to Weiss, Pyrrha, and Yang talk back and forth about school and boys, or anything else that they brought up, giving slight input whenever she sensed the conversation coming to a lull. This didn't seem to be happening however as Weiss had started ranting about the gall of her partner for her current assignment for Math.

"I can't believe he would do that!" she said with a scoff, "He turned in the entire assignment without letting me even see it." She simply found it convenient to forget that she refused to look at said assignment whenever Jaune would try and get her to help with it in class. "What if I fail now because of him? There goes my place as Valedictorian," she said angrily as she took a deep breath.

Pyrrha stepped up to the defense of her old friend before Weiss could begin the tirade of insults that would come forth from her mouth if left unhalted, "Don't worry about it. Jaune may be a complete idiot at times, but he can smart when he puts his mind to it. And if you fail you might get a class with one of us. That would make me feel a lot better if I had a genius like you helping me with the formula for the circumference of a circle, or whatever it is we'll be talking about," she said with a forced smile, trying to diffuse some of the tension between her friends and her 'old' love interest.

Weiss seemed to think on these for words for a moment, not because she thought that the male blonde was intelligent, but because she didn't want her friend to be in a worse mood than she already was. She gave a curt nod of her head, and gave a final warning to the goofball that was nowhere near her at the moment, "Okay, but I swear that if I fail because of him then the whole of The Schnee Company will be against him."

Later That Night

Jaune's POV

I was standing in front of my bathroom trying to get my hair to look somewhat decent compared to its normal messier look, but no matter what I tried it always seemed to revert back to its regular state. This was one thing that I hated my father for as his hair was the same way and every time I had to get it to look nice I ended up curing his name at least a hundred times. I wanted tonight to go as well as possible because I wanted her to no be too upset if I couldn't get her something for our anniversary. I had already put on a light blue button up dress shirt and as always I was wearing a pair of jeans. The last step was to get my hair to look nice but that was turning into a failed attempt very quickly.

I left the bathroom very disappointed and went to my room to put shoes on. When I had put them on I heard the doorbell ring, making me wonder who it was . Ruby had made it very clear to me that she didn't want to meet here, but I still wondered if it was her, and what she was doing here so early if it was. We weren't supposed to meet for another 30 minutes. I walked downstairs to the door and when I opened the door I heard the doorbell ring again. Definitely not Ruby, she would have used the key at his point, made clear by the time she used it to come inside when I was in the shower and unable to get to the door.

I opened the door to find a rather nervous looking Pyrrha standing on the welcome mat. She was wearing a gold colored sweatshirt and black jogging pants, her default outfit outside of school during the fall and winter months. "H-Hey Jaune," she stopped as she saw the rather nice outfit I was wearing, frowned for a second, but pressed on anyway, "I was wondering if maybe you wanted to hang out. Everyone else is busy and I thinking we could walk around the city and see if we could find anything to do." She said all this with a nervous smile that if I saw a year ago I would have done anything to replace with a true one, but now I only found myself contemplating why she was at my door.

I decided to go with the easiest method and simply tell her no, "I have a date tonight, so I really can't. Maybe later, but not now, okay?" I asked with a reassuring smile. I wouldn't mind spending time with Pyrrha, as long as her other friends weren't around, but I was running out of time to get to the park and I didn't want Ruby waiting to long for me.

She stood there for a few seconds, looking as if she had the welcome mat pulled from beneath her feet, but she recovered rather quickly, "Why don't we hang out when you get back? Just tell me when you get back and we'll just hang out here." She seemed to be barely holding the smile on her face as she recommended the compromise, but what I said next made her drop her smile and replace with a blank face.

"I don't know when I'm getting back. My girlfriend has something planned and I don't know how long it will take," I turned my head to look at the clock that was hung on the wall to see that I only had 20 minutes left until I was supposed to meet Ruby. "I'm really sorry but I need to go like right now. I'll see you later," I walked through the door and closed it behind me, rushing past Pyrrha who still seemed to be standing there with a blank face. I looked behind me as I made my way down the street to see Pyrrha walking back into her house with her head held low. I shrugged off my worry, wanting to have as good a night as possible with Ruby as possible.


	9. Its actually here

**So this is going to be my first chapter of Paper Cuts that I'll be writing. And I don't know how I feel about this. Everyone seems to really like this story and I don't want to disappoint all the people who really want this to turn out well.** **Just a Dude didn't really leave me a chapter 9, only some ideas.** **Anyway, this is getting close to 100 words and I don't like my AN's to be much more than that. Hope you have a nice day.**

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What's taking him so long. He should've been here… in a few minutes. Ugh, why did I get here so early?

It's too cold to just be standing here. I'm pretty sure that I can see my breath. Maybe I should start walking to Jaune's house. And if he's not ready then we can just stay there tonight. I don't think I'm ready to introduce him to Mom anyway. She won't be mad if I don't bring him today. Not like she would've told me if she would be mad.

Oh, nevermind. There's Jaune now.

He's wearing a nice blue shirt, the kind with the buttons on it, and as always a pair of jeans. His hair's messy but I could tell that he tried to make it look better. I laughed at the thought of him standing in front a mirror with a comb in his hand.

When he saw me standing outside the park gates, I could see him smile that big smile that I've only ever seen when he looks at me. His arm came up to wave and for a second the butterflies that were flying around my stomach disappeared for a second.

I ran up to him and wrapped my arms around him after giving him a quick kiss. Even after four months I still felt a little nervous giving him a hug, especially in public, but I'm just so nervous and him being here makes me feel better. "You look nice."

"So do you Ruby." I managed to keep blush off my face at that. I didn't think I was wearing anything to great. Just some black jeans and a red blouse with some frills on the sleeves. Not that he could see the frills cause I was wearing a red and black striped jacket. But the way Jaune said it made me feel like I was beautiful.

I was so caught up in the hug. He was just so warm and he made me feel so safe. Which is exactly why he needed to meet her.

Eventually Jaune look down and mumbled into my hair, "As much as I would love to stand here all night, didn't you say that you wanted to do something?"

I squeezed him tighter at his words. I don't know if I'm ready to do this. But I had to do this. If anyone needed to know about this then it was Jaune. "Just… don't think that I'm weird… Promise?"

"Ruby, I already think your weird. And I- I think you're amazing anyway." He smiled when he said it, and I heard the teasing in his voice, but I also her him stutter. That stutter had been happening a lot recently, and my stomach jumped at that thought at what we was about to say.

I gave him small smile in return and started leading him by the hand.

Walking hand in hand with Jaune was normally something that made me feel lighter than the wind and smile brighter than all the stars in the sky, but right now I wanted to run. This was the one place that no one knew about. Not Uncle Qrow. Not Dad. Not even Yang.

But Mom needed to know about Jaune.

After a few minutes of not uncomfortable silence Jaune spoke up, "So where're we going? I don't think I've ever been in this part of Vale before." I didn't think he would have known about this part of the city. It was older than the rest of Vale, most of the buildings starting to be made of brick and looking even more gothic.

"Just to go meet my mom." I turned and gave him a small smile.

The cemetery was the same as it was the last time I was here. Empty. Thank Oum.

Jaune was confused. His hand was gripping mine tightly and he was looking like he was about to ask what we were doing when I stopped in front of a grave. "Jaune, I want you to meet my mom."

It was simple, almost 2 feet tall with a rose carved into the front. And below that a name, "Summer Rose, 'Thus Kindly I Scatter'". Around the tombstone were planted several rose bushes, and my hands ached as I remembered the effort and care I put into planting them.

"Ruby, when did… Oh my Oum I'm so sor-" He started to stutter but I stopped him by squeezing his hand.

"I need to introduce you first. Shh." And with that I let go of his hand. I sat criss-crossed in front of the grave and started,"Hey Mom... I know I was just here, and I planted the roses, but I wanted you to meet someone. Someone special. His name is Jaune and I'm pretty sure I've told you about him.. how he saved my life... but he's my boyfriend now! And..." Now matter how happy I tried to sound I couldn't hold back the tears, "...I wish that you were really here to meet him Mom... It hurts... I know Dad is trying but it isn't the same and it hurts that you aren't here." I felt Jaune rest on his knees behind me as he wrapped his arms around me. I took a deep breath as Jaune wiped away my tears, "But Jaune makes it hurt a little bit less... I- I think I love him Mom."

As I said that Jaune unwrapped his arms from around me and knelt in front of my Mom's grave, his forehead resting on top of her tombstone. "Hey Mrs. Rose. I'm Jaune, your- your daughter's boyfriend. And I didn't know this was going to happen, but don't listen to Ruby. She's the one that saved my life. I was alone. So alone. I didn't have anyone. But then she came, and I wasn't anymore. She was my best friend. She still is... but now she's my girlfriend," he turned his head to look at me, "And I swear that I won't let anything happen to her." For this next part he looked me dead in the eyes, "I- I... love her, with everything I have. And I would give everything I have to make sure she never gets hurt. And an Arc never goes back on his word."

Before I could say anything he turned around and hugged me. And in the middle of October it started snowing, covering us in a cloak of white. I don't know how long we sat there with Jaune comforting me, but when I looked up, in the horizon I could see I woman wearing a white jacket, and if I looked hard enough I could see her smile at us through the falling snow.

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Isn't that Yang's sister? What's her name… Ruby! Why is Jaune with Ruby? Oh my Oum, are they..? No, how would they even know each other. At least that's what I told myself until I saw them kiss each other hello.

I had seen enough to know what was going on.

Why hasn't Yang said anything about this? Unless she doesn't know. Turning back to my house I pulled my scroll out of my pocket and dialed Yang's number. It took a while for her to answer, but when she did I could hear the sound of a shower and her cursing under her breath. "P-Money, you better have a good reason for calling cause I just got started washing my hair and you know how I feel about my hair."

"I'm just wondering if you know what your sister is doing right now?" I asked innocently.

"Ruby? She, uhh," Yang paused and hummed under her breath for a second, "Oh, she said that she was going to the auto shop to get some new parts for moped. But she had to go pick it up from our Uncle's shop because our dad doesn't know about it and he would kill her if he knew she was driving around. Did you see her around Vale or something?"

I chewed my lip for a second before answering. If I did this and Jaune found out then he would hate me. But if I don't then I might lose him forever.

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 **So yeah, that's all that Dude left me for notes. He actually didn't even leave me the last bit. He only left that he wanted the special moment with Ruby and Jaune. With his other notes about how Ruby's mom was dead and he goes to visit her grave(It's why she was always at the park at the beginning, at least according to what I was given) So I made this. But I didn't know how to stretch the scene out so I added that last bit for a bit of word filler. And to go into the next arc of the story as it would be. Anyway, this is my first chapter of Paper Cuts, tell me how you liked it.**


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